My Best Tip for the Professionally Nomadic When It Comes to Toiletries

July 17, 2017

My Best Tip for the Professionally Nomadic When It Comes to Toiletries

I can’t count how many places Peter and I have slept in the last year, or how many travel days we’ve had. So, you guys know we’re getting pretty adept at packing and traveling. (You’d hope, anyway.)

The biggest thing I’ve realized is that extras when it comes to toiletries can be a lifesaver. We carry a spare toiletries bag in the van with extra razors, deodorant, soap, ibuprofen, etc., but the biggest extra I’ve started buying in bulk and packing everywhere has been the toothbrush.

Hear me out: if you really think about it, how gross is it that you’re leaving yours sitting on hotel counters, random AirBNB bathrooms, using it in truck stops (or campsites), and so on? It started sketching me out a few months ago and I started wondering how many times I’ve gotten colds or gotten sick because of my toothbrush.

I know, I know: ewwww.

But since I started thinking about it, I realized it’s pretty darn cheap to replace your toothbrush regularly. I mean, you can buy a 4 pack for $4! This is a relatively inexpensive thing to do, saves you a lot of grief, grossness and potential sickness, and bonus: it guarantees you have a spare for when you leave your toothbrush at the hotel/truck stop/friend’s house. So, now we keep a big pack of them in the spare toiletries bag, and I routinely toss mine after road trips and pretty much monthly when we’re on the road a lot. (This also means leaving your expensive electric one at home!)

Anyway, it’s a minor thing, but it’s made a huge difference in my road trip happiness. For real.

Joie Gahum

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Welcome to The Outdoor Edit! I'm Molly Hurford, a writer and coach, and here, we're talking all about navigating an active, adventurous lifestyle—everything about the active lifestyle, not just the highlights and the Instagram-perfect moments. I'm the author of The Shred Girls Series, Fuel Your Ride; Saddle, Sore; and Mud, Snow and Cyclocross. I'm a writer for Bicycling Magazine and plenty of other outdoor fitness sites like MapMyRun.com, and co-host of The Consummate Athlete podcast. I desperately love riding, running, swimming, climbing, yoga, comic books, reading, travel, my turtle named Sven, my husband named Peter, and long walks on the beach.